


These Empty Spaces

by kayura_sanada



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel
Genre: Grief/Mourning, M/M, Pining, Post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 14:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11163366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayura_sanada/pseuds/kayura_sanada
Summary: Steve goes to his room after the events of the Season 3 finale.





	These Empty Spaces

 

Steve sat heavily on his bed. The vast, expansive space behind him mocked him. “Tony?” he said, his voice so hesitant, so low, it hardly came out as more than a whisper. It wasn’t strong enough to break the darkness around him, the lack of light seeping through the window. The clock ticked past two a.m. “You there?”

A heart-stopping moment, and then, “I’m here, Cap.” Tony’s voice was low, too, likely in deference to his own. Falcon’s set-up managed to at least bring this, the familiar cadences of a man’s voice, if not his body. Steve closed his eyes and tried to imagine Tony with him. The problem with that was, with that sad, sympathetic tone, and with them alone in the room, he could expect Tony to be on his knees before him, hands on his upper legs, thumbs rubbing circles or patting code into his skin. He couldn’t help but notice the lack of that warmth, that weight. He missed the soft glow of the arc reactor so much it hurt.

“How are you?” he asked, even though he knew the question was useless. Tony was the same – he would always be the same, where he was now. And there was nothing he could do about it. The question only existed to salve the worst of his wounds, to let Tony know what he was feeling.

“I’m fine, Cap.” He could imagine the smile on Tony’s face. The man always tried to smile, at the very least for Steve’s benefit. And he would try even harder now, just as he was, to shore up Steve’s strength. To remind him he was an Avenger, and he wasn’t alone. He could hear the message every time Tony called him Cap. He wished he could see that smile.

He hated this.

“I hate it, too, Steve,” Tony said, and he jerked, realizing he’d said that aloud. “But it’s better than the alternative.”

Was it? But of course it was. Tony being controlled by Ultron was completely unacceptable. He just wished… he sighed. “I miss you.”

The room felt too big, too wide. Too empty.

“I know. It’s going to be fine. I’m right here. I’m always right by your side.”

Steve clenched his lids shut so tightly colors popped to life behind them. His fingers clenched into the sheets. His shoulders hunched. Because no, Tony wasn’t beside him, and nothing was all right.

It took minutes, countless minutes, for him to get his breathing under control and his heart rate back to some semblance of normality. Tony filled the empty spaces with his usual monologuing, talking about some of the things he could see from where he waited interminably in his protective bubble, rambling about all the upgrade ideas he was going to pass along to Sam. He even speculated on what he thought the others had been doing in his absence – disturbingly accurate on all accounts, save for Red Hulk, who had taken a surprisingly active interest in the government and its law-making. Finally, Steve managed to unwind enough to lie down in their bed. It was so vast, so cold, that he shivered beneath the covers.

Suddenly Tony stopped talking. Sensing, perhaps, the change in Steve’s silence. His voice, when he broke his own silence, was soft. Fond. “Good night, Steve.”

Steve crushed his pillow in his hands. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He wished he could pretend to feel the weight of Tony’s body behind him. Wished he could feel its warmth. “Good night, Tony.”

_I’m going to get you back._


End file.
